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VINDICATION OF THE PHESIDENT. 






EXTRACT FROM THE SPEECH 



OF 



HOK JOHlSr A. LOGAN 

Delivehed In the Senate of the United States, Junh 3, 1872, ^^| 
Reply (0 SeuMor thinner's Atta<}k on President Granf 8 Admiriistration.. 



Mr. Presideut, at the close of the war in 
1865, ou the 22d day of May, when the armies 
were marshaled here in the streets of Wash- 
ington, as we passed-by this Senate Chamber 
and marched down iPennsylvania avenue, 
with the officers at the head of their columns, 
I remember to have rend ©n the outer walls 
this motto: "There is one debt this country 
can never renay, and that is the debt o? grat- 
itude it owes to the^sokliers wlio have pre- 
.ferved the Union." Little did I think, then, 
sir, that within seven years afterward I 
should hear an assault like this upon the. 
leader of that Army within these very walls. 
Mr. President, is that debt of gratitude so 
soon forgotten? Shall the fair fame and 
reputation of the man who led those armies 
l>e trampled'^in the dust by one man, who 
claims so egotistically here that ho organized 
the party which made the war against the 
oligarchy of slavery ? But, sir, that attempt 
has been witnessed here, to onr great sorrow. 
The eloquence, the power, the education, ail 
that belong to the -Senator from Massachu- 
setts has been bronghfc to bear, not in conso- 
nance with that motto, not in keeping alive 
in the bosoms of the people of the United 
States that feeling of gratitude to the men 
who saved the country, but of ingratitude; 
and worse, of want of decent respect which 
should be shown either for tho memory of 
the dead or for the character of the living. 

The next division of thespeech of the Sen- 
ator from Massachusetts is in reference to 
"presidential pretension," and in discussing 
presidential pretSbsions, he draws himself to 
his full height and exclaims, "Upon what 
meat doth our Caesar feed that he assumes so 
much?" That is the language of the Sena- 
tor from Massachusetts. 1 might reply to the 
Senator and ask : 

" Upon what meat doth thisotir Ctfsar feed, 
That he Is sTTOvrnso-ffreat?" 



Where did he acquire the charter or the 
right to stand in this Senate Chamber and 
perpetrate slander upoa slander, vile and 
malignant, against the best men of our land? 
I ask the Senator from Massachusetts, where 
does ho acquire that title; where does be oi>- 
tain that right belonging to himself alone? 
A right, however, that no one will covet. 

The Senator says the President of J;ho 
United States violates the Constitution, vio- 
lates law, violates every principle that ought 
to govern the Chief Magistrate of a great na- 
tion. I should like to ask a question of the 
Senator if he were iiere, and I am sorry that 
he is not. "The wicked flet^ when no man 
pursueth." It certainly is ui»t that he is in 
terror of anything that may br' said; b;it why 
is it? Is he afraid that tho gh.)st of liis own 
slanders will come back to hauni him even 
here as well as in his chamber at night? 
Will it hauit him as the ghost of San Do- 
mingo haunts him every day? And this 
seems to follow him likethe ghost of Banqiio, 
making its appearance wtien he least ex- 
pects it. Now, sir, in what has the Presi- 
dent of the United States violated the Con- 
stitution? If the President has violated thw 
Constitution, it is the duty of the House of 
Representatives to prefer charges against 
him, and of the Senate to try him for that 
offense. In what has tho President violated 
the law? I ask the Senator from Massachu- 
setts to tell this country in what has he vio- 
lated the Constitution, in v/hat particular? 
It may be that all of us have not construed 
the law alike. It is possible to construe the 
Constitution differently in certain respects. 
The President may have differed from us at 
times in reference to a construction of the law 
or of the Constitution, but if he has I have 
no knowledge of it. Bat even if that were 
the case it would be no violation of the Con- 
Etitution or of the law ia the seusa in wblcit 



such a thing as inuuendo, and the Senator 
fjcom Massachusetts, by tbQ innuendoes in 
his .speech, would leave the impression on 
the country that President Grant has ap- 
pointed men to oiBce who made him gifts be- 
cause of the fact that they did make gifts; 
in other words, that the gift was the consid- 
f^ration for the office; therefore it was a cor- 
rupt bargain between the President and the 
office-taker. So far as this intimation, insin- 
uation, or innuendo is concerned, as any one 
may please to term it, I say, and take the 
responsibility, for the President of the United 
States, of denouncing it as false, and basely 
false. I do so for the reason that men who 
have been appointed to office were appointed 
to the two offices he mentioned because of 
their friendship to the President, and their 
abilitj- for the duties of tl:o ofiioe, and their 
fealty to tha EepubJican party. 

Let us see for a moment what this gift-tak- 
ing is. is it a cri me for a man to receive gifts 
who has accomplished great deeds for his 
country ? If it i=!, let us examine tiie historj' 
•of the country for a moment. President 
Grant was a great chieftain. lie had achieved 
great things for this Government. He was a 
great commander of armies and forces. He 
was victorious in all his battles. When he 
came homo from a victorious war, when 
States had been jeined together that had be- 
fore been severed, and people were united 
that had been divided by war, the people of 
the country felt grateful to him for his 
achievements and what ha bad done for 
them. There was no way in which some of 
the wealthy men of this country beheved 
they could show their gratitude to this great 
chieftain more appropriately, inasmuch as 
he was a.man of small means, than by pre- 
senting him with that which would make him 
a comfortable income the rest of his Ufe. 
They did it because they were actuated by gen- 
erous feelings toward him, because they were 
loyal men, because they loved their country. 
Their country had been saved, their property 
bad been saved, and they were willing 
to contributa to the benefit of this man. They 
•did so. In contributing to him they con- 
tributed to many others, as was said by the 
.Senator from Wisconsin. General Sherman 
and other generals that 1 could mention they 
contributed to because of their gratefulness 
to them for tb« service they had rendered 
the country. These contributions were made 
to him when he was a soldier; they were 
made to him when he was not President; 
tliey were given to him, and given to him 
with good feeling, a generous feeling, a feel- 
ing of kindness, without any hesitancy on the 
part of the people who gave them, without 
the e.^ipectation of any remuneration or any 
reward that would be given to them by the 
President of tha United States. 

When General Sherman and Genera! 
Grant received presents, men, women, and 
children all over the land thanked God that 
some persons were able to make them pres- 
futs, because of the fact that they deserved 
it, the people being a grateful people. Let 
uie read in reference to some other soldiers 
and groat rn?.n who hn.vf rocpivcd presents, 



and why? Because pf ^the gratefulness of 
their country to thetn; 

"When the Duke of Wellington returned to En- 
gland from his victorious campaigns agaiust iflapoleon, 
not only were honors, of every sort, heaped upon 
him by the Government, but as a substantial testi- 
monial of national gratitude the mansion and estate 
of Sbrathfieldsaye, in Hampshire, were purchased 
for him, by subscription, at a cost of £263,000, (or 
$1,315,000.) and presented to him as tha gift of the 
nation. 

"After a good many y^rs of active and strenuous 
agitation, Mr. Richard C?&J)den, the founder of the 
British Anti-Corn Law League, and one of the ablest 
and purest of British statesmen, whose fame is as 
broad as the ^vorld, succeeded in securin<» the repeal 
of the corn laws. «In gratitude for their (ieliverance, 
through his efibrts, trdSi this great burden, hw 
friends and admirers presented ilr. CoMen with the 
sum of S3o0,000, raised by subscription, on the receipt 
of which ho retired ft-oin his business of eotton 
printing. 

"When General George B. JlcClellan was retired 
from the conimand of "the anny of the Potomac, 
after the disasters inflicted «ipon "it by his bad gen- 
eralship, his wealthy Deraooratio friends, desirous of 
salving hi.? wounded feelings with a substantial evi- 
dence ef their appreciation of his inestimable success 
with the spade, mado him a present of a furnished 
house, in New York, which cost 250,000, and 'a con- 
siderable amount of greenbacks besides, all raised by 
private subscription, and soon r.i'torward made him 
the Democratic caadidata for President. 

" If General MeClellan, who had never won a 
battle of any consequence, and who had led our finest 
army to a succession of terrible defeats, was thought 
worthy of .':0 substantial a reoognition of his military 
services by his Democratic frionds, it could hardly 
be expected that Republicans should show a less 
grateful appreciation o'f tho services of tho most 
successful of our generals, who led our armies, cast 
and west, through a long succesaioD of splendid and 
decisive victories. Accordinfly, when General Grant 
had smitten down tho rebel power, east and west of 
tho Alleghanies, by bis tremendous and unerring 
blows, tho sum of $100,000, we believe, was raised by 
subscription, among loyal and weilthy citizens, and 
presented to him as a testimonial of their and tho 
nation's gratitudo; and, if we remember rightly, a 
house was presented to him by Philadelphians. This 
was in tho summer of lS6o, a few moatlis after the 
surrender of Lee and Johnson, when General Grant 
had no more thought of ever being President of the 
United States than of being Empwror of Russia, lie 
had, to his honor be H said, returned, from hia conquest 
of the rebel South, crowned with tho laurels of a hun- 
dred victories, no richer for the war whicii enriched so 
many army contractors and commissaiaes than when, 
four years before, lie had gone from his Galena tan- 
nery 'to offer his sorvicos to Governor Yates." 

I might go on and enumerate quite a num- 
ber of men who have received gifts because 
of the gratitude of the people of their coun- 
try for that whlcli they had done. In fact, 
if 'we were to search the pages of ancient hi.s- 
tory for the purpose of finding something 
obfectionable to apply to General Grant, 
we would find tliat those who came home 
victorious received triumphs. It has been 
from time immemorial tlio case that men 
who aclneved great things in war were re- 
ceived triumphantly by their people, some 
wich gifts and presents, some in ono way and 
some in another ; and yet because the custom 
of the ancient world followed down to the 
present day in the instance of President 
Grant, it is brought against him here as a 
charge to show that he has used it as a con- 
sideration by giving office to persons not en- 
titled thereto," and therefore should not be 
again elected. Sir, you must show some- 
thing more than tlse acquiescence in cnstorn'S 



■io turn this country against its greatest pre- 
server amonp; men. 

Let me call the attention of the Senator 
from Massachusetts to the fact that on our 
statute-books to-day we find the law that 
where naval officers capture prizes they are 
entitled to a division of the prizes. "VVTiy? 
To encourage the navy to capture prizes and 
he vigilant. Even here you make presents 
to naval officers by statute law, for doing 
what? Just for performing their duty and 
•nothing more. But inasmuch as President 
Grant performed his duty without prize 
money, when ho came home and the people 
bestowed upon him that wliich you bestow 
by law on naval ofQcers the eloquent Sen- 
ator from Massachusetts arises in his place 
and charges corruption. How easy it is, sir, 
for us to find fault with otliers whom the 
people honor, lest wo raay never be placed in 
a position to bo so liighly favored ourselves. 

After discussing the question of gift-taking 
h9says that Mr. Stewart, of New York, was 
appointed Secretary of the Treasury, and he 
uses that for the purpose of showing the ig- 
norance of President Grant, lie says that 
President Grant appointed Mr. Stewart; ho 
does not say it was because Mr. Stewart had 
■ made him a present, bnt that is the inference 
from his language, and at tho same time he 
intimates tho ignorance of tho President to 
be so great that he did not know that an im- 
porting merchant could not bo collector of 
the port of New York or Secretary of the 
Treasury. Now, I venture the assertion, 
and I think I can prove it from the record, 
that tho Senator's ignorance was so great at 
the same time that he did not know it was 
the law. Mr. Lincoln once tendered the ap- 
pointment to an importing merchant of col- 
lector of New York, without a knowledge of 
the "law, and tho merchant declined. It was 
an old statute, unknown to any one almost, 
Tinthought-of for years. Mr. Stewart's name 
was sent to the Senate Chamber, and in the 
message withdrawing the name of Mr. Stew- 
art the President said^ after mentioning the 
statute : 

"In view of these proTislons and the fact that Mr. 
Stewart ha3 been unanimousfy confirnieii by the Sea- 
«.ate, I -withdraw his name." 

In view -of what? lu view of the fact that 
this statute exists, and what other fact? The 
fact that he has been unanimously con- 
firmed! Tell mo how could he be unani- 
mously confirmed in this Senate if there was 
a man in the Senate who knew that law ex- 
isted at that time. It was not ignorance on 
the part of President Grant any more than 
It was on the part of the Senator from Massa- 
chusetts, who voted for his confirmation with 
that statute on our books. Yet he brings 
this forward as a fact to prove the ignorance 
of President Grant that he did not know that 
the law existed. We are all very wise after 
finding out something. If wo only find out 
that which others did not kilow before, we 
are very anxious to tell the world of our 
great dfscovery, and when it was ascertained. 
'rhe Senator did not tell the Senate that he 
found and discovered this .statute. It is a 
•wonder he did not say, "I arose and objected 



at the time, because it was in violation of 
law." Ho did not say that; but the statato 
was discovered by a clerk in the Treasury 
Department, and not by the Senator from 
Massachusetts or any other Senator. Yet the 
Senator from Massachusetts has achieved a 
great victory over President Grant in prov- 
ing him to be ignorant of a statute that he 
knew nothing about himself. 

The next suggestion of the Senator is, tliat 
President Grant quarrels with ewry one. 

I know that President Grant is not a quar- 
relsome man. If he dislikes y*a he has 
nothing to do with you, but he does not quar- 
rel. In the army, if an officer did not per- 
form his duty, ho merely sent him a little 
order relieving him from duty, and you have 
never heard General Grant lisp the reason up 
to this day why he relieved an officer in the 
army, and if you will go and ask him now 
why he relieved many oiBcersclurinathewar, 
he will not tell you. He did it because he 
though they had failed to perform their duty, 
but the reason he did not give, because per- 
haps he thought others might not soothe 
fault as he did, and if ho was mistaken ho 
would let it work itself out without trying 
to injure the party any worse than by simply 
relieving him. This was his mode of doing 
business in the army. I brieve it is his man- 
ner to-day. If you dislike him and let him 
know it, that is enough; you hear nothing 
from him. If he dislikes you it is the same 
thing precisely, but ho quarrels with no one. 

Mr. President, the speech of the Senator 
from Massachusetts presented to the country 
at this particular time is a very significant 
fact. 1 wish to call his attention to one 
point in it, but this suggestion I wish to 
make in order to show him how fatal to him- 
seK this speech may be. 

He says that at the time ho approached 
Secretary Stanton on his dying bed, and the 
Secretary repeated to him tho reasons why 
he had no faith in General Grant's ability to 
administer the Government, he said to the 
Secretary, " It is too late ; why did you not 
say this sooner?" I repeat the same thing 
to Senator Sumner. Your speech, to per- 
form tho office you intended it, came too late. 
Hence I am led to the conclusion that it was 
not intended to perform t4io office which he 
says it was intended, but it was to perform a 
very different office from that which ho inti- 
mates he intended it should perform; that is 
to say, to advise the American people that 
President Grant was not qualified to exer- 
cise the functions of that office, and hence 
ought to be supplanted by some one else at 
Philadelphia. No, sir; if that was the object 
it comes too late. That being so, I have 
como to the conclusion that a man of so much 
wisdom and of so many pretensions as the 
Senator from Massachuse'its had a very dif- 
ferent intention. 

Sir, his intention was to strangle and de- 
stroy the Republican partj', that party which 
he says he created, if he did. 1 say to him 
he performed a great work. If he was the 
architect and builder of the Republican party 
he is a great master workman— its domo so 
beautifully rounded, its columns soadmir« 



ihWy chiseiea, bucS aH us parlb »y admirabiy 
prepared, and buiided together so smoothly 
and 30 perfectly that the mechauism charms 
the eye of every one who has over seen it. 
SiDce the ScDator has performed such a great 
work, I appeal to him to kuow why it is that 
he attempts to destroy the workmanship of 
his owrj haacls. Uh* let me give him one 
word of ad vie©, \yhile he may think, Sam- 
*6n-hke, that he has tiio strength to carry off 
Che gates and the pillars of the temple, let 
me tell him when he stretches forth his arm 
to cause the pillars to reel and totter beneath 
this fabric, there are thousands and thou- 
sands of true-hearted Republicans who will 
come up to the work, and stretching fnrth 
their strong right arms, say, "Stay thou 
there; these piiiars stand beneath this "mighty 
fabric of ours, within which we all dvrcil; it 
is the ark of our safetjr, and shall not be de- 
stroyed." [Manifestations of applause in 
the galleries.] 

Now, Mr. President, iet uie call attention 
to the strange statement of the Senator in 
regard to Secretary Stanton's dying declara- 
tion about Cxeneral Grant. According to this 
statement Secretary Stanton is made to say, 
iu regard to his speeches, "i never intro- 
duced the name ot General Grant." Sh-, 
I am constrained to say that the statement 
can not be true. I have the record here to 
prove its falsity. I will in a moment read the 
evidence, and let tshe country judge between 
the living and the dead. Mr. President, Sec- 
tary Stantozj, iu my jKidgmeut, never made 
that statement I w"iil not drag forth the 
dead from their eiient graves into the pres- 
ence of this Senate te make them bear wit- 
ness to my statements. T was with Secretary 
Stanton night aifter night, in company 
with General Chipman, of this city, waiting 
at the Secretary's office, and watching there, 
too, during a certain time which you all 
remember well. I remembei conversation 
after convei'sation that we had, but 1 will 
not repeat them. I will give only such testi- 
mony as can be brought forwaTrd and as I 
have now. But as the Senator from Massa- 
chusetts stated tiiat Secretary Stanton told 
him he .never introduced the name of Gen- 
eral Grant during the campaign of 1868, I 
have before me all the speeches that were 
made by Secretary Stanton during that Pres- 
idential campaign, three in Ohio and one in 
Pennsylvania, all printed iu full. 1 vdll 
read that poi-tion of the firet one which has 
reference to General Grant, delivered at 
Cleveland, Ohio, on the 3d of October, 1S38. 
I will read the fourth paragraph of the 
speech. After speaking of the great vic- 
tories of the v,-iir, Secretary Stanton said: 

"Let him bear iu mind hissafety heovrcs to Grant; 
that it S3 an houor to htniseif to aupyort Grant, tlio 

feucra! <vbo held tho banner of the nation illustrious 
efore ail others, and wUilo kinslblk gather around, 
and he tella of the mighty and wonderful things 
done in this laud, how will he be able to whisper 
above hia breath, lest his neighbors ask him, Did you 
vote for Grant? Have you done your duty? Doea 
the Irishman, in a case of foreign war, wish to be 
seized by a Britisli officer and pressed into the army 
of Great Britain? Then let him not desert that flag 
■which is the leinbleniof national existence, but up- 
hold tho baaSier, so that it v:i! ho. whccever it !£• 



Tiaible, a. sineid auii iiiijation lo ilin orciipri i«. •vorf 
nation and clime." 

That was the iaaguage of Secretary Stan- 
ton in reference to President Grant orf* the 
3d of October, 1868, in the city of Clevcla.;d, 
Ohio. Did he mention Grant's name in that 
speech ? The Senator from Massachusetts 
says Secretary Sf.anton said to him, "I never 
mentioned his name." Let rae call the atten- 
tion of the Senate to another one of bis 
speeches made at tho City Hall in Philadel- 
phia, in which tho foUowincr languaj^o was 
! used* 

"Sai)]5C3gt1io charges all to be true, what arir,uii-ieut 
do theV MTord agaiast Grant or i n favor of Seymour?'' 

He was speaking of tho charges of the mis- 
! management of the finances of the country. 

"If delivered, as his speeches seem tO' have been 
prepared, for the Staio election?, when Congressmen 
wero to have been chosen, thoy might have had some 
pertinency to the occasion, and may yet have in New 
York; but Grant has had as little to do with tho 
financial mistakes of the Republican party as ho had 
with tho earthquakes in South America, i.i those 
mistakes were made during the war. Grant was ai the 
head of the array in front of the foe." 

Again, in the same speed) he saidi 

" Now. before General Grant can bo held rcKponsi- 
b!o for tne price of pork and corn, Governor Seymour 
tihou'd have esplaiued how much more the farmers 
would get if he wa3 elected Presideai" than if GranE 
was elected." 

ne uses General Grant's name iu that con- 
nection. Then again, in the same speech, he 
said: 

"Iu accepting- the Republican nomlDation Gc-^iicxa?. 
Grant imposed but ouo condition, 'Let thora be 
peace,' and anyone who has seen his eye flash in tho 
midst of danger knows that having said 'peace,' by 
the aid of divine Providence, bo far as rests m humak 
power, we may rely upon him that if he be elfcted 
ihero will be peace*" 

That was the language of Secretary Stan- 
ton on that occasion, at a meeting liejd in 
tho Academy of Music, in Philadelphia. 
Again, in the game speech, he uttered the 
following: 

" This mighty concourse, tho largest that my eyes 
ever beheld, is eigniGcaiit of two things : first, it is b 
judgment in f?,vor of Ulysses S, Grant, [cheers ;] and 
sc^3ond it is a judgment against IIo ratio Seymour." 

Again, iu tho same speecli, ho said: 

" Upon the election next Tuesday, the 3d of Novem- 
ber, I behold the rock of our national safety, and 
upon tho triumph of tho banner which is held iu tio 
hands of Ulysses S. (Jrant I behold the victory of tho 
principles of freedom and of just government, now 
and in all time." [Applause,] 

That was the language of Edwin M. Stan- 
ton in his different epeeciu^s in two different 
places In reference to Ulj^sse^ S. Grant, and 
yet tho Senator from Massachusetts stands 
up hero and tells you that the last dying 
words of Secretary Stanton to him wore that 
he never mentioned the name of Grant in 
any of his speeches, because of tho want of 
confidence in him. 

Again we call attention to the Secrctiry's 
speech at Steubenville, Ohio, September 25, 
1868. Mr. Stanton refers to tiie electiorj of 
1864, and he says: 

"Some of these raea-sures have been caiiit-J fut, 
others, for reasons needlesa to discuss now, still rt main 
an unesecuted dead letter, and they will bo .-STjiaiji 
until General Grant shall be elected Presidsnt of tho 
United Btat^>», [Great epplaose.l Grantthen •■tf.L'iJui 



thi3 <l;iy, before us, tho foremost military eomaiaader 
' in the world, with peace for his watchword, [Ap. 
plause.] Why ahould he not be elected? what 
rMson has any lover of country for not voting for 
him? By his side stands Schuyiar Colfax, who, by 
his own energy, good character, and industry, ad- 
vanced from the printing office to the Speaker's 
c; tr, and for three 8ucc< ssive terms has fined that 
hi^h office with honor and distinction. Honest and 
upright men havo been nominated for your Rep- 
resentatives in Congress, pledged to stand by Grant 
and the country ; why tnen, again I ask should he 
and they not roceive your support? The history of 
<xrant ia known to you and to the world. Educated 
at West Point, be eerved with distinction through 
the Mexican war, and when it was ended, unwilling 
to be a drone, resigned his commission and engaged 
in the pursuits of civil life. Leaving his peaceful 
pursuits at the commencement of tho rebellion, he 
joined the army, and soon advanced to the rank of 
major general, commanding an army. After varied 
and important Bervicon, he moved upon the enemy's 
works at Donelson, and compeHed their commander, 
Buckner, to surrender with eighteen thousand pris- 
oners of war. Soon after he grappled with Beaure- 
gard on the iield of Shiloh, and drove him and hla 
routed army from the Qeld. Resolved to open the 
navigation of the Mississippi river, he ran its bat- 
teries, fought and defeated Genaral Johnston, ohascd 
the rebel General Pemberton into Vicksburg, and 
itorced him to surreuder with thirty thousand prison- 
ers of war. fApplauBe.l Advanced to command all 
tb.0 armies of the west, lie fought and defeated Bragg 
at Chattanooga, shattered his army, and delivered 
that vast territory from tho hands of the rebels. 
[Applause.] Advanced otill higher, as Lieutenant 
(jeneral, ho changed his headquarters to the Potomac ; 
forty days' marching and aghting through tho 
Wilderness drove Lee and his army into Richmond. 
' Compelled to evacuate, Leo was chased to Appomattox 
Court House, and forced to surrender himself and his 
• iarms and men as prisoners of war, which practically 
brought the rcbeUion to an end, [Applause.]" 

"And now 1 ask what reason has any man to 
Tote against General Grant? His capacity and 
integrity for civil administration were equally mani- 
. feat in tho vast territory in which ho operated. If 
any man among you would hide f'om the boy, the 
musket and knapsack that his lath&r carried at Don- 
elson, at Vickabsirg, ui>0!i Lookout Blountaiu, 
throughout the vVilderneaa. before Richmond, at 
Fiv3 Forks, at Appomattox Court-house, an'1 
shouldering proudly, marchsd with two hundred 
thousand of his fellow-soldiora thrcuch the streetsof 
Washington, and around the Capitol and Eiecutivo 
Mansion that he defended ivith his life, lor years, in 
the long march, the wearisome si 3ge, and the storm of 
battlfij let such man veto against General Grant. 
[Applause.] If there is any man amoue; you who 
would biot from Iho page of our history t'ne story of 
these (Treat achievements, let him draw black lines 
»rouna them and write across their face, "Have no 
share in these great deeds, I'or I vote against Grant," 
[Applause.] Is there any raaa among you that would 
compel the armies of liio Potomac, oi the James, of 
the Ohio, of the Cumberland, of the Tennessee, and 
of the Guh", to be again gathered at the tap of the 
drum, and eurreudered, as prisoners of war, to Leo 
and Johnson, Beauregard and Forrest, and Pres- 
ton, let him vote against Genai-al Grant. [Applause.] 
If there is any man among you who has forgotten 
^hat bright summer Sabbath day the little llonitor, 
as she steamed out againut the new oca monster, 
\ the Merrlmac, and, before noon, drove hor, shat- 
tered and crippled, to port ; if there is any man who 
•would havo rejoiced to boho'.d a cannoa ball shatter 
Farragui. as, lashed to bis mast, ho drove through the 
(rebel fleet and pushed them to pieces, let that man vote 
jigaiast Grant. If auv man wou[d havo Worden, 
and Farragut, and Wiuslow, and all our great 
admirals haul down the star-spangled banner, never 
again to brave the battle and the breeze; if he would 
aee them slink Jn shamo from their own quarter- 
decks, and give up their ships to Maury, and Buchan- 
aan, and Semmes. and MoUat, while tho Confederate 
bars, emblems o/ slavery, flaunt on every sea, in 
iVory State, let him vote against Grant. ViOte 
i-i-^'v and Tnic often' for '* Grant b« elected, thut 



glou« BhAll disappear from tho flrmameat before 
tho banner of the United States ehall suffer tarniah 
or shame on the land <^ on the deep. [Applause.] 
!f there is any man among you that would revers* 
the order of history ; who would bring upon you 
a shame and a reproach never before known among 
the nations of the earth ; who would havo the 
commander of tho United States armies deliver up 
his sword and humbly bow before the rebel com- 
mander—let that maa vote against Grant, but never 
again call himself an Amerioan citizan. f Applause.] 
If there is any man whose cyebatia would not burn 
to behold Lee upon the portico of the Capitol, with 
Beauregard, Preston, and Forrest at his side, with a 
Confederate army arouad him, and, as the Govern- 
ment is transferred to them, listen to tho rebel yell 
as it sounds on tho Beld of battle and la the New 
York convention, [loud ehecr8,| let such a man vote 
against Grant and go t^ Washington on the 4tb of 
March. rApplauao.j Why, then, I repeat, should 
any lovopof his country vote against Grant, Colfax, 
and tho Republican members of Congress ? A conven- 
tion has been held in New York and put In nomi- 
nation opposition candidates — Horatio Seymour and 
Frank P. Blstir. Seymour professes that he is an un- 
willingcandidate,cou^ht up by a whirlwind. [Laugh- 
ter and cheers.] Blair was put in aomination by 
Preston, of Kentucky, who fought for years against 
his country, and the nomiaation was seconded by 
Forrest, of Fort Pillow. That nomination was re- 
ceived with acclamation, and the opposing candidates 
thus stand before you for your cnoico. The watch- 
word of Grant, as I have said, is peac«. Now, what 
is the watchword of the New York convention." 

Mr. President, I only desired to read por- 
tions of tlie speeehea of Secretary Stanton, 
for the purpose of sustaining w&at I said: 
that was that 1 did not believe the statement 
of the Senator from Massachusetts. I do nob 
believe that any one wlio reads the speeches 
of Secretary Stantoa during that time can 
believe the stateaient of the Senator. I am 
inclined to take a charitable view of it, if wo 
are ailowwl to view such statements with 
charity. It is tho only thing that can excuse 
him from being false in his statements before 
tho country. 

The history c* tho v/orid would write tho 
A-merican people down as a people not worthy 
of trust, as a people without gratitude, as a 
people who had seen a maa hew his way to 
fame by his own strong arm, and then allowed 
an ambitiou3 politician to strike him down 
with a merciless blow, and no one to stand by 
and to say, "The blow is too Bovere;" and I 
say to the Senator from ISiassachnsetts that 
wliile he has stnick this blow, as ha believea 
a heavy one, on the head cf the political 
prospects of General (irant, he has, made him 
friends by the thousand, strong ones, too, thai 
were merely lukewarm yesterday. 

He has aroused the sp'irir, of tiiis land that 
can not be quelled. He has, in fact, inflamed 
the old war spirit in tne soldiery of the coun- 
try. He has aroused the feeling of indigna- 
tion in every man that v;armed his feet by a 
camp-fire during i?he war. He has sent 
through this land athrlH which will return 
to him in such a manner and with such force 
as will make him feel ifc. For myself, I will 
say that I have sat quietly here for months, 
and had not intended to say anything ; I had 
: no argument to make, intending to await the 
: nomination of the Philadelphia Convention, 
be it Grant or be it whom it might, believing, 
however, it would be Grant; but when I heard 
these vile slanders hurled like javelins against 
the President of tha United States, it aroused 



A 



a feeling iu my breast wliicb has been aroused 
many times before. I am now ready to buckle 
on my armor ad A am ready for the fray, and 
from now untM November next to fight this 
battle in behalf of an honest man, a good 
soldier, and a faithful servant. [Applause 
in the galleries. J 

Ton will hear a response to this every- 
where. As I said the other day, it will be 
heard from one end of this land to the other. 
The lines of blue coats that were arrayed upon 
the hill-tops and along the valleys, with bur- 
nished bayonets, ready for the fight, the same 
men, although they liave divested themselves 
of their battle array, yet retain their warlike 
spirit burning in their bosoms. They will 
respond to this challenge: they will say' to tiie 
eloquent Senator from Massachusetts, "Tou 
have thrown down the glove and we will take 
it up." I tall the Senator he will find a re- 
sponse in his own State that will not give his 
elumberiugs much quiet. lie will find a re- 
sponse everywhere. The people of this coun- 
try will not see a man sacrificed to vile calum- 
ny. I would l^e willing, and I believe every 
one else would, to allow the contest to be set- 
tled fairly and justly. Let the people select 
whom they desire to'have lor their President 
or for any btlicr position. And when the Sen- 
■ator from Massachusetts with his thundering 
voice echoing in this chamber proposes to ex- 
clude every man who fought for his country, 
every man tliat has been a soldier from civil 
office, and claiming that the right to hold of- 
fice belongs alone to men like himself, I say 
he will find even poor but honest, hard-work- 
ing men saying to him the time has not come 
in this free Kepubiioof America for such doc- 
trine to be tolerated on the floor of the Senate 
cr on the floor of the lower Uouse of Con- 
4iress, and if so, it will not be taken and rel- 
ished as a sweet morsel by the people of this 
land. 

No, Mr. Piesideut, when we are challenged 
to the contest, and when we are told that 
soldiers are only made to be soldiers, and 
educated civilians only should hold high po- 
sitions of trust in this country, I am sorry to 
say to the Senator, unfortunate man, you 
were oever born to bo President of the 
United States; you will never be the Presi- 
dent of that grand paity which you claim to 
have originated ani organized. No man 
with such aspirations and such views and 
such feelings for the common people of this 
country can ever succeed as a politician or 
statesman in the midst of a people devoted 
to republican institutions. 

President Grant has made an honest Presi- 
dent lie has been faithful. The afilairs of 
the nation are in pood condition. We are at 
peace with the civilized world. Notwith- 
standing the Senator said we were iu a mud- 
dle with every nation, we are at war with 
none. Every State in this Union is quiet; 
the laws have been faithfully executed and 
administered; we have quiet and peace 
throughout our land. Such blessings we have 
not had since the war until recently. But 
the Senator from Massachusetts would turn 
the Government of the United States over to 
the bands of our enemies. That is what we 



do not desire. If ho desires not to u.r.om- 
plish that let him b« faithful and stand 
by the old RepubUcau ship, in which there is 
life, and outside of which there is death. 
But whether he does or not, success will be 
ours; this Government will be peaceful, the 
people happy and prosperous, harmony and 
unity will prevail, to the great advancement 
of the material interests of this great n?.tion. 
Mr. President, let me ask Senators here 
who stood anxiously waiting at th« close of; 
this war to sea the veryfetate of things brought 
about that we see 'to-day, peace, comfort, 
quiet, and prosperity, as they looked out UT>on 
the boisterous ocean of secession and saw the 
raging and fierce billows of angry strife, if ft 
was hot the prayer then of every patriotic 
man, woman, and child in this land that the 
angry billows should cease, and that we 
should once more have placid seas; and as wo 
looked out upon these angry waves of rebel- 
lion and strifn and saw the old ship of State 
struggling to make her way to a harbor of 
safety, and saw this man, now President, 
then guiding and commanding the crew that 
managed this crafty when at his command our 
guns ceased their thunder and everything 
was still and quiet, the old ship, manned by ' 
her devoted crew, came safely into the harbor 
of safety, freighted with the hopes of man- 
kind, where she is moored (jjiietand peaceful 
to-day? Who is there that can describe the 
outbreak of overjoyous hearts in strains of 
praise for the safety of our Republic that 
went forth on that day of triumph? :3ir, that 
feeling still is iu the bosom of patriots, and 
though slumbering will break forth again, 
having been aroused by the Glast of the 
enemy's bugle. 

Who is there among the Republicans that 
desires to set the old craft adrift again into 
the boisterous seas of tumult and confusion? 
I presume there is not one. Then let us as 
quiet, law-abiding, peaceable citizens, de- 
sirous of doing the best we can for our coun- 
try, go straight forward in the execution of 
the proper plans and designs for the accom- 
plishment of the oivjecls for which repubfican 
institutions are established and are main- 
tained. 

Let us, then, proceed with our business; let 
us go home and present to the peoplo of this 
country the indictment with its malignant 
charsjes, and ask them if they will submit to 
have a man so worthy as the President of the 
United States receive such calumny at the 
hands of any one without a proper rcbiike, 
and I pledge you that you will hav-D a re- 
sponse indicating no uncertain sound, coaiinpt 
from the lips and heart of every true patriot 
in the land. 

Mr. President, I have detained the Senate 
much longer than I intended, but I deemed 
it just to myself and to my constituents that 
that document should not go before them 
without ray raising my voice at least in pro- 
test against it. I have done so in my feeble 
manner, not ably, but the best that 1 could 
do; having done tliat [ have performed what 
I consider my duty, and will now gi?« 
way for the business of the Senate te i>to- 
ceed. 



M C- 2. 4. 



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